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He needs to give a better reason on why it is necessary to deny citizenship than that, IMHO. An extension of the "granting of citizenship" rule used by the French Foreign Legion to determine if a candidate is of quality would be better, I feel. You want productive and capable people who can and will contribute to society.

WASHINGTON -- Less than a year after Inauguration Day, support for the Democratic Party continues to slump, amid a difficult economy and a wave of public discontent, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

The findings underscored how dramatically the political landscape has changed during the Obama administration's first year. In January, despite the recession and financial crisis, voters expressed optimism about the future, the new president enjoyed soaring approval ratings, and congressional leaders promised to swiftly pass his ambitious agenda.

In December's survey, for the first time, less than half of Americans approved of the job President Barack Obama was doing, marking a steeper first-year fall for this president than his recent predecessors.

This has the potential to turn in many ways. Health care reform, as it currently stands, is virtually DOA, the recently announced Afghanistan build-up can backfire, esp. if things get bad there in 2010, and the general U.S. economy looks bad. A turn to a more populist approach for next year seems possible, esp. to try and build up momentum for the elections, but it's also possible that Obama will become more isolated then.

__________________

"If ignorance is bliss, then why aren't more people happy?" -- Misc.

Currently listening: Nadda
Currently reading: Procrastination for the win!
Currently playing: "Quest of D", "Border Break" and "Gundam Senjou no Kizuna".
Waiting for: "Shining Force Cross"!

I don't believe this is racism. A culture that requires that one gender cover up completely is at odds with a another that believes in equality and letting people have the freedom to choose what to where. Never mind that obscuring one's identity is an obvious security risk. Given the infamous laws and practices in Middle Eastern countries, the French have a legitimate reason to protect their own secular culture.

I think this is why a heavy reliance on unmanned aircraft is a bad idea.

and...

Now if I were the bad guys and some of my operatives got whacked by a US missile or bomb that was targeted via some mechanism that tracked the downloading of UAV video, I'd use that to my advantage.

Like I'd hide an active downloading mechanism in a nursery school or something... another scenario is put the transmitter in a hospital or day care center, a large hotel.... which means you'd have to use eyes and weapons on the ground, probably an hour or two, and in the meantime they've done their damage, dismantled everything and move on....

Taking away the element of surprise is pretty disastrous for the US military. Well it seems that the Iranians have a step up now to be able to fight the US or ISAF toe-to-toe.

Remember the old news that a Predator drone that wasn't responding to commands? I think the whole system has already been hacked.

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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

Remember the old news that a Predator drone that wasn't responding to commands? I think the whole system has already been hacked.

From what little I know about the Predators... The RAW video was broadcast out from the aircraft as an open source feed. It was a downlink ONLY, meaning a person can only receive the signal. 0% chance of sending anything back on that feed into the aircraft. All flight control feeds are sent and received via either satellite link, or UHF radio link, and those are secured by a 256bit data encryption algorithm in addition to the specialized crypto equipment that the 256bit algorithm is loaded into. The crypto gear takes that 256bit algorithm and further scrabbles it.

Now before anyone says, "Well they could get their hands on the equipment and codes." military crypto gear and codes are a controlled items that are required to be inventoried at a minimum once every 24 hours. Also those codes require 2 people to be present when removed from the safe to load into the crypto, and both people have to sign off on the inventory sheet as having removed those codes and returning them. The physical security for those types of things is pretty damn high for the obvious reason.

That being said, the terrorists and rouge states can get all the equipment they want to try and hack into those data links but unless they have the specific crypto gear used on the aircraft programed to the same specifications plus the 256bit code key, they've got nothing but a pile of high end electronic hardware. Even if they had just one piece of the puzzle, it gets them nowhere, and those codes change all the time so even if they were able to break the 256 bit code, by the time they figured it out, the code is no longer being used.

Hate to say it, but, not really. The gas chamber, by eyewitness accounts, is still exceptionally painful, and even a slight foul-up can cause the unconsciousness to take minutes, and the actual death even longer. You see, the basic method of using a gas chamber is dropping cyanide gases into a pool of sulfuric acid, creating cyanide gas. It shocks your nervous system, surely, but you won't die immediately. Those executed were advised to breathe deeply and as much as possible to facilitate their own death.

Thus, gassing was declared "inhumane" under the U.S. Constitution's provisions against cruel and unusual punishment. All jurisdictions where the death penalty is practiced have switched to lethal injection as the primary mode of capital punishment, and we already know that has it's own problems.

From what little I know about the Predators... The RAW video was broadcast out from the aircraft as an open source feed. It was a downlink ONLY, meaning a person can only receive the signal. 0% chance of sending anything back on that feed into the aircraft. All flight control feeds are sent and received via either satellite link, or UHF radio link, and those are secured by a 256bit data encryption algorithm in addition to the specialized crypto equipment that the 256bit algorithm is loaded into. The crypto gear takes that 256bit algorithm and further scrabbles it.

Now before anyone says, "Well they could get their hands on the equipment and codes." military crypto gear and codes are a controlled items that are required to be inventoried at a minimum once every 24 hours. Also those codes require 2 people to be present when removed from the safe to load into the crypto, and both people have to sign off on the inventory sheet as having removed those codes and returning them. The physical security for those types of things is pretty damn high for the obvious reason.

That being said, the terrorists and rouge states can get all the equipment they want to try and hack into those data links but unless they have the specific crypto gear used on the aircraft programed to the same specifications plus the 256bit code key, they've got nothing but a pile of high end electronic hardware. Even if they had just one piece of the puzzle, it gets them nowhere, and those codes change all the time so even if they were able to break the 256 bit code, by the time they figured it out, the code is no longer being used.

Still when there is a really strong jammer it will not be controlable, hence there usually is a predefined return route - but in that special case SaintessHeart was talking about it did not return. Safety is only as safe as its weakest link in a chain of security meassures. Now I could imagine there was a major error in the software or hardware, however its nothing the enemy could have taken advantage of then.

I think in an evironment with asymetric warfare (and vast amounts of space and possible hideout places), the unmanned (little) drones are the most useful tools when it comes to recon and covered target engagement (assassination operations).

Still when there is a really strong jammer it will not be controlable, hence there usually is a predefined return route - but in that special case SaintessHeart was talking about it did not return. Safety is only as safe as its weakest link in a chain of security meassures. Now I could imagine there was a major error in the software or hardware, however its nothing the enemy could have taken advantage of then.

I think in an evironment with asymetric warfare (and vast amounts of space and possible hideout places), the unmanned (little) drones are the most useful tools when it comes to recon and covered target engagement (assassination operations).

One day we will make drones that are bipedal and have titanium alloy endoskeletons and rubber skins. We will call them :

TERMINATORS.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

I suppose they're right that it was probably Neo-Nazis who did this... or perhaps they have the intention of selling it to Neo-Nazis? It's a pretty pathetic thing to do.

You forget about private collectors. People do collect weird stuff, like 10 years plus back over here someone stole an entire traffic light, and bus number plates (not license plates) were stolen by students.

Kleptomaniacs......

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

You forget about private collectors. People do collect weird stuff, like 10 years plus back over here someone stole an entire traffic light, and bus number plates (not license plates) were stolen by students.

Kleptomaniacs......

Well, it's sort of what I meant by selling it to Neo-Nazis. I just assumed they'd have to be one to want that.

I guess the people who stole it may well be intending to keep it for themselves. There sure are many strange people in this world.

There is already a consolidation of them over here (though not exactly kleptomaniacs) if you haven't noticed. I guarantee 99%, if not 100% of the regulars here belong to that category*.

* - Inclusive of the site staff and admin

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

You forget about private collectors. People do collect weird stuff, like 10 years plus back over here someone stole an entire traffic light, and bus number plates (not license plates) were stolen by students.
Kleptomaniacs......

How about the fella that stole the OLD black-and-white Singapore road signs? Mind you, it was a whole estate worth of road signs.

Yet another example of "large corporation buys small profitable brand and proceeds to destroy everything that made it work and then discard the carcass". No one seems to be able to explain how this benefits the economy and community... only that the executives that made the decisions leading to these trainwrecks get their bonuses and loot anyway.

G.M. initially bought half of Saab in 1990 for $600 million, acquiring the rest in 2000 for $125 million. Under G.M.’s stewardship, Saab lost a large part of its Swedish identity as well as the technical prowess that earned it a loyal following, said Peter Wells, co-director for industry research at the Center for Automotive Research at Cardiff University.

From little i know about auto industry/history, Saab already knew their car business was unprofitable by the late 1980s when they split the company into the heavy truck business (which is profitable) and the car business (which has not been profitable). Volvo was split the same way (and now Ford is stuck with that unprofitable car business).

GM was kinda dumb enough to come in and buy Saab Automobiles believing they could turn it around into an asset. Buying Saab was GM's huge mistake (kinda like founding Saturn, etc). They did absolutely everything they could to make Saab efficient, reliable and profitable. It failed, every Saab product failed, the company completely failed. Nothing about the parts Saab used from GM were subpar compared to when the company was independent. Everything was a vast, vast improvement. If Saab (and Volvo for that matter) had valid business cases and had any hope at all the Swedish government or EU would step in to preserve them. But they don't and the governments realize that all these companies would be are permanent wokers charities. It was apparent to me and objective industry observers years ago that Saab was a basket case that GM was wasting their time with. No different than Saturn and Pontiac (or Mercury).

If his government were to force through an existing bilateral deal for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station to be relocated within the prefecture, the outcome would be ''hard'' to deal with, the prime minister said he explained to Clinton.

COPENHAGEN -- Leaders of the U.S., China and other major economies said late Friday that they had tentatively reached a new climate accord, though they said the pact wasn't aggressive enough to meaningfully curb greenhouse-gas emissions and merely set up a future round of negotiations to hash out the details.

Hmm, this reminds me of the Doha Round, but for the global climate instead of global trade. No concrete target commitments by anyone, funds promised but yet to be delivered, and vague wordings. All in all, it looks more like a paper tiger than anything actionable.

__________________

"If ignorance is bliss, then why aren't more people happy?" -- Misc.

Currently listening: Nadda
Currently reading: Procrastination for the win!
Currently playing: "Quest of D", "Border Break" and "Gundam Senjou no Kizuna".
Waiting for: "Shining Force Cross"!

Climate Pact Falls Short
Hmm, this reminds me of the Doha Round, but for the global climate instead of global trade. No concrete target commitments by anyone, funds promised but yet to be delivered, and vague wordings. All in all, it looks more like a paper tiger than anything actionable.

Aye... we may be showing our evolutionary limitations as a species.... the planet will get along, it just may be unsustainable for us